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Filed under: Car Buying, Coupe, Japan, Videos, Crossover, Nissan, Specialty

We’re not apologizing to Nissan, but we were pretty flippantly dismissive of both the 40th Anniversary Z and the Rogue S Krom Edition. Why? Because both struck as as badge jobs. When we think of special edition Nissans, we think of V-Spec, and that typically entails more power and/or pumped up handling. But not with these two cars. Though at least the Krom gets a new front end, which sadly isn’t nearly as eye-catching as the nose of the not-for-us 2010 Qashqai.

However, the truth of the matter is that our favorite ever special Nissan was the legendary Black Gold 10th Anniversary Datsun 280ZX (and the even rarer Black Red – only 500 made, as opposed to 3,000 Black Golds). And that car was little more than a plaque and a coke habit paint job. Our point? Nissan had better produce a theme song for this new car.

Anyhow, the prices of both the 40th Z and the Rogue Krom have just been announced. The Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition will set you back $38,860. Some of you might be asking why not spend the extra $330 and get the better-than-a-regular-370Z NISMO for $39,190? Well, Nissan will only be producing 1,000 40th Anniversary Zs. Other than that, we can’t think of any reason. The Rogue S Krom Edition comes in at $23,940 for the front-wheel drive version, $25,140 if you want all-wheel drive. The 40AZ will be available in Q2 of 2010, the Krom in late Q3. Press release(s) can be found after the jump, along with a little surprise.

[Source: Nissan]

Continue reading Nissan announces pricing on 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition, Rogue S Krom Edition [w/VIDEO]

Nissan announces pricing on 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition, Rogue S Krom Edition [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Run, run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me – I’m the gingerbread man!

The gingerbread men that come out of my oven aren’t all that fast, so I can tell you exactly what happens when I catch one: he looses a leg, an arm or, when I start from the top, his head. I’ll bet that the same thing happens to your gingerbread men. I jump started the process with these cookies (they’re sugar cookies, not gingerbread) by taking a few nibbles before decorating. A little bit cute and a little tragic – but that’s just the life of a gingerbread man.

Now, you can buy some very cute cookie cutters that give you this very design – but why spend the money on multiple cookie cutters when you can use just one and add the bite marks yourself? All you need to do is “bite” off an arm here and a leg there, then frost the cookies as you normally would!

Here’s the report latest from Martin Armstrong — courtesy of Nathan’s Economic Edge — in which he predicts new highs in stocks and gold. In particular, he focuses on the nature of international fund flows.

The Dow & the Future–Theory & Myth 12-6-09

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• REPORT: Martin Armstrong Moved To High-Security Facility, Prevented From Publishing Research
• Martin Armstrong Explains Why The Gold Standard Is Implausible And Useless (GLD, SLV)
• Martin Armstrong: Gold Headed To $5,000 And Beyond!

The Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham has spoken extensively about the Government’s plans for care and support service reform in a House of Commons debate.

Answering opposition questions about disability benefits, Mr Burnham outlined the Government’s thinking on a wide range of topics around the creation of a new National Care Service for adults in England, as detailed in the summer’s Green Paper Shaping the Future of Care Together.

The National Care Service

“Some 61 years ago, the House agreed to the establishment of the National Health Service to end the unfairness that the people with the greatest needs faced the highest costs and that the people who had the least were in danger of having their needs left unmet.

“Today, the same unfairness exists in social care. A person who happens to develop dementia in old age, rather than cancer or heart disease, is yet to find the freedom from fear that Nye Bevan promised as the goal of the NHS.

“It is because the system has grown in a piecemeal way over the years that it has become confusing and in many ways a lottery. It varies very greatly around the country, according to the eligibility criteria operated by councils and a range of other things.

“The serious purpose that lies behind the Green Paper is to create a fairer care system for all, in which the people with the greatest needs have those needs met and society as a whole shares the risks and costs of providing that care. In creating such a system, we will provide a better standard and quality of care.

“One in five people will need care that costs less than £1,000 during their retirement. One in five will need care that costs more than £50,000. In the worst cases, the sum can exceed £200,000. This cruel lottery leaves us with no way of predicting our risk and makes it hard to protect ourselves against it.

“The current care system is piecemeal and complicated. Many do not know that care is means-tested. People face a battle to access the care that they need. When they succeed, the care can be of a poor quality, but not always. Resources are not channelled to where they are needed the most and, as we all know, carers often do not get the support that they need to make life tolerable and to enable them to provide the care and support that they want to their loved ones, while also balancing other aspects of their life, such as work.

“This much we know, and we know that the problem will become more pressing as the population gets older. When the NHS was created, there were eight working adults for every retired person. Today there are four, and by 2050 that figure will fall to just two. If the system is left unreformed, there are real questions about its sustainability in the long term.”

Carers

“We must give people looking after elderly relatives quality support that they can draw down when they need it, because that gives them the ability to work and to balance work with caring for their relatives. If we cannot provide that support, there will be an economic consequence for the country.

“We have taken steps to support carers, and my Department has made funds available from our budget to support respite care. A crucial part of any national care service is to provide quality support for carers so that life becomes tolerable and they can carry on with their work and other responsibilities, knowing that there is good-quality support for their loved one when they are not with them. For all those reasons, we brought forward a Green Paper.”

Disability Benefits

Workforce and Quality

Personal Care at Home Bill

For a full transcript of the debate click here.

Congress will cut the drug czar’s anti-drug advertising budget by more than a third next year, continuing a decline for the ads, which have been proven ineffective by repeated studies.

House and Senate negotiators reached agreement on a 2010 Appropriations bill yesterday, and the bill includes $45 million for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, a reduction of $25 million from last year (and less than half of what we were spending in 2006).

Several studies have found problems with the anti-drug advertising campaigns, but the best known finding is an extensive report commissioned by the Government Accountability Office in 2006. The report found that not only did government anti-drug ads fail to have an impact on drug use, they actually made use seem more common and normal — perhaps leading more kids to try drugs. The full report is available here.

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We’ve got a lot of stuff coming up this month. I am happy to share the latest schedule for the Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week, Xbox LIVE Arcade and Games on Demand and more.

Xbox LIVE Deal of the week*
Week of December 14:

Lips: Coldplay Track Pack for 240 Microsoft Points

Pinball FX (Japan) for  400 Microsoft Points
December 21 through December 27:
Shadow Complex for 800 points 
Week of December 28:

The Maw for 400 Microsoft Points

Here is the schedule for the next couple of weeks for Xbox LIVE Arcade:

December 16: Alien Breed Evolution (Episode 1) for 800 Microsoft Points
December 23: Trials HD BIG PACK! for 400 points

Games on Demand:

December 15: Viva Piñata: Party Animals
December 22: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition and Devil May Cry 4
December 29: Gears of War

And of course, it’s Holiday Time…so we’ve got some special stuff lined up for you as well, starting with today’s release of Holiday items and tokidoki gear to the Avatar Marketplace. On December 24th, we’ll be releasing Disney Classic items to the Avatar Marketplace.

Finally, starting December 18th and continuing through the 31st we’ll be having a new Xbox LIVE Holiday Deal every single day. We’re not posting that schedule in advance so you’ll need to check back each day to see what the offer is. You can find out what each deal is by signing into Xbox LIVE and checking the dashboard. Plus each day, I’ll post the Holiday Daily deal to my Twitter account so you may want follow me so you can find out what the deal is even if you are not in front of your console. 

Edit: Here is the official press release

*May vary by region

Retailers have pulled off all sorts of gimmicks to sell their stuff, but one HD TV retailer in Japan is doing something that’s a little more on the unique side: they’re playing Final Fantasy XIII trailers on

We’ve certainly discussed the work of David Levine and Michele Boldrin plenty of times before — and both were kind enough to participate in our CwF+RtB experiment earlier this year. If you haven’t read their book, then you are missing out. Now, Levine and Boldrin have a new editorial up in the CSMonitor, explaining why they think the patent system should be abolished. If you’ve read their work, there’s nothing surprising, but if you have not, it’s a quick summary of the key points:

As a matter of theory, intellectual property is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, giving a reward increases the incentive to innovate. On the other, allowing the monopolization of existing ideas taxes the creation of new ones, thereby decreasing the incentive to innovate. The bottom line: Contrary to widespread belief, economic theory does not provide support for the continuous extension of IP. The only answer to the question of whether IP serves the desired purpose must be empirical. Does it work in practice?

A great deal of applied economic research has tried to answer this question. The short answer is that intellectual property does not increase innovation and creation. Extending IP rights may modestly boost the incentive for innovation, but this positive effect is wiped away by the negative effect of creating monopolies. There is simply no evidence that strengthening patent regimes increases innovation or economic productivity. In fact, some evidence shows that increased protection even decreases innovation. The main finding is that making it easier to get patents increases … patenting!

No matter what your stance on this topic is, you have to admit it’s impressive to see it getting attention in a mainstream publication like the CSMonitor.

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The STREAMTEK Air Knife Drying System is the most efficient and energy saving method to deliver compressed air for large drying, cleaning, or cooling applications.

All Air Knives Available in Aluminum or Stainless Steel with an effective length of 3″ (76 mm), 6″ (152 mm), 9″ (229 mm), 12″ (305 mm), 18″ (457 mm), 24″ (610 mm), 30″ (762 mm), 36″ (914 mm), 42″ (1067 mm), 48″ (1219 mm), and 54″ (1372 mm). Custom sizes Upon request!

Automates Wall Thickness Measurement And Offers Connectivity with Existing Plant Asset Management Platforms

Billerica, MA. – 9 November, 2009. Rightrax HT, the latest on-line wall thickness monitoring system from GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies, provides accurate and reliable wall thickness data of pipes and vessels operating at extremely high temperatures. Corrosion monitoring is extremely important for users in the oil & gas industry to elevate inspection productivity, provide significant cost savings and help ensure plant safety & integrity.

“It is estimated that the cost of corrosion equals 3% of US GDP, while the overall cost relating to oil and gas, power generation and other key industries exceeds $150 billion annually,” explains Jim Costain, Oil & Gas Segment Marketing Leader, GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies, “Industry estimates that 20 to 25% of these costs can be avoided by better use of existing monitoring technologies. Rightrax HT is a technology that can make a significant contribution to these cost savings.”

Rightrax HT has applications in the oil and gas sector in many upstream, midstream and downstream situations, where corrosion and erosion monitoring is necessary to ensure plant integrity or to maximize plant function and operational life. Typically, it can help an oil refinery process opportunity crude by accurately monitoring the corrosion rates as a function of added control inhibitors. In a standard configuration, the new system features groups of four high-temperature sensors, which are clamped directly to the pipe or vessel to be monitored and connected to a single-sensor interface.

As with all GE Rightrax thickness-monitoring systems, the new high-temperature version provides an ultrasonic, non-intrusive, on-line solution to corrosion and erosion monitoring for permanent installation on pipelines and process plant components. Once fitted, there is no need to remove insulation, erect scaffolding, excavate pipes or shutdown units to check equipment integrity. Sensors are simply clamped to the surface of the pipe or vessel to be monitored. The ease of system connectivity with existing plant asset-management platforms allows users to significantly extend their use beyond on-line rotating asset management into the on-line monitoring of fixed assets and trend long-term corrosion data.

Rightrax HT’s current temperature capability extends to 350ºC with an accuracy and resolution that is significantly higher than that achievable with current systems. In common with all GE on-line corrosion monitoring systems, this new high-temperature addition, which leverages GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms Proficy® HMI/SCADA CIMPLICITY technology, a multi-functional software platform for monitoring several types of industrial asset, has been designed to allow easy connectivity to existing plant asset-management platforms such as GE System 1. It can also be used to complement pigging systems, specifically to monitor critical spots and non-piggable areas.

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Earnings/Financials

Automobile manufacturers and dealers spent $7.5 billion on advertising during the first six months of 2009, says TNS Media Intelligence. The company that keeps track of nearly every form of advertising for all industries is reporting that the figure represents a 30.8% drop compared to the same period last year, when it was $10.8 billion in spending. Not surprisingly, the plummet nearly mirrors the decline in motor vehicle sales (which dropped 27.4% during the exact same period).

The decline in advertising expenditures isn’t is exactly new news as automotive advertising has dropped for seventeen consecutive quarters, reports TNS. Among the nation’s top ten advertisers for the same period, General Motors was the only automaker to make the cut in third place behind Proctor and Gamble Co. and Verizon Communications Inc. -although GM only spent $1.4 billion this year (a reduction of 15.5% from last year). Overall, across all industries, advertising is down nearly 15% from last year according to TNS Media.

[Source: Detroit Free Press, image: Productioncars.com]

REPORT: Automotive advertising plummets 30.8% originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google is known for its ‘small-updates’ approach which it uses throughout its product lineup. Sometimes though, it can mean that a product gets a bunch of new features in a short amount of time which is exactly what happened with Docs, which introduced quite a few new features and updates in just a couple of days.

Probably the most important change is the new relevance sorting method in search results. For a company deeply rooted in search technologies, Docs search was severely lacking and only sorted the results by the date when they were last modified. Especially for those with a big amount of documents it wasn’t very practical or useful.

Thankfully, all that is in the past as Google has introduced a revamped search which lists the most relevant documents first. There is also the option to sort the results by “relevance,” “starred” and “last modified date.” Furthermore, the search now includes synonyms and similar words to ensure that you find what you are looking for, even though you’re not exactly sure how you named the document.

“So if you search for ‘check account’, we’ll also include results for a few variations of those words, including ‘checking account’ (which is what you probably meant to type). Or if you search for “mac book”, we’ll a… (read more)

By Rupert Murdoch
wsj.com

Government assistance is a greater threat to the press than any new technology.

We are at a time when many news enterprises are shutting down or scaling back. No doubt you will hear some tell you that journalism is in dire shape, and the triumph of digital is to blame.

My message is just the opposite. The future of journalism is more promising than ever—limited only by editors and producers unwilling to fight for their readers and viewers, or government using its heavy hand either to overregulate or subsidize us.

From the beginning, newspapers have prospered for one reason: the trust that comes from representing their readers’ interests and giving them the news that’s important to them. That means covering the communities where they live, exposing government or business corruption, and standing up to the rich and powerful.

Technology now allows us to do this on a much greater scale. That means we have the means to reach billions of people who until now have had no honest or independent sources of the information they need to rise in society, hold their governments accountable, and pursue their needs and dreams.

Does this mean we are all going to succeed? Of course not. Some newspapers and news organizations will not adapt to the digital realities of our day—and they will fail. We should not blame technology for these failures. The future of journalism belongs to the bold, and the companies that prosper will be those that find new and better ways to meet the needs of their viewers, listeners, and readers.

First, media companies need to give people the news they want. I can’t tell you how many papers I have visited where they have a wall of journalism prizes—and a rapidly declining circulation. This tells me the editors are producing news for themselves—instead of news that is relevant to their customers. A news organization’s most important asset is the trust it has with its readers, a bond that reflects the readers’ confidence that editors are looking out for their needs and interests.

At News Corp., we have been working for two years on a project that would use a portion of our broadcast spectrum to bring our TV offerings—and maybe even our newspaper content—to mobile devices. Today’s news consumers do not want to be chained to a box in their homes or offices to get their favorite news and entertainment—and our plan includes the needs of the next wave of TV viewing by going mobile.

The same is true with newspapers. More and more, our readers are using different technologies to access our papers during different parts of the day. For example, they might read some of their Wall Street Journal on their BlackBerries while commuting into the office, read it on the computer when they arrive, and read it on a larger and clearer e-reader wherever they may be.

My second point follows from my first: Quality content is not free. In the future, good journalism will depend on the ability of a news organization to attract customers by providing news and information they are willing to pay for.

The old business model based mainly on advertising is dead. . .READ FULL STORY

Dennis Gartman today addresses the seemingly endless pitfall of gold this week in The Gartman Letter this morning. He predicts the appropriate price to be in the $1025 to $1065 range:

The Gartman Letter: Gold in US dollar terms, having run from $900/oz in August to $1225 late last week, is long overdue for a correction, and it is suffering through that correct with a sense of seriousness. Late longs have been treated quite roughly in the past week, and given the near parabolic nature of the rise throughout November, no one really should be surprised.

We look for support for gold into what our long standing clients know that we shall call “The Box”… late level on the chart that marks the 50-62% retracement of the previous move. In this case that argues for gold in US dollar terms to fall toward the $1025-$1065 range. Thus, we must understand that gold could indeed fall to those levels and do nothing… absolutely nothing… to the major bull market’s trend, other than cause a great number of ill-capitalised gold owners to throw their positions overboard. Or more properly, to have had their gold positions thrown overboard by zealous margin clerks intent upon keeping their firms’ capital intact. That is the duty of the margin clerk, and she does her job well.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Gold Is On A Four-Day Losing Streak (GLD)
• As Gold Slides, One-By-One, The Haters Come Out Of The Woodwork
• Gold: The Next Few Days Are Crucial

Apple’s purchase of music streaming service Lala signals a fundamental change in the way that the company will present iTunes content on the web.

Apple is poised to totally change its iTunes business model with a increased focus on Internet-based content, reports the Wall Street Journal in an article appearing in Thursday’s edition. Using newly acquired La La Media Inc. as a springboard, Apple is considering to adopt a usage model that would allow consumers to access and manage their iTunes purchases directly through the Internet without downloading the content in question or the iTunes software.

Read more from AppleInsider

David Ludwig, MD, PhD, director of Children’s Optimal Weight for Life Program, just published a commentary in JAMA expressing concern about the widespread use of artificial sweeteners in soft drinks. Below, he offers some insight about why humans naturally crave sweetness, and the potential danger of confusing our ancient biological pathways of hunger and satiation with fake sugars.

Ever since our distant ancestors crawled out of the ocean, animals have been trying to eat plants. In this conflict, animals would seem to have a distinct advantage: we can move about, they can’t. But plants are by no means defenseless against our predations. They protect themselves with thorns, bark and tough fibers; stash their starches in tubers that are difficult to digest (at least when uncooked); encase their most prized possessions, high energy nuts and seeds, in impervious shells; and lace their leaves with bitter, toxic chemicals.

In fact, plants have long taken advantage of animals to help them reproduce. To entice us to serve them, plants have created seed-bearing fruits and infused them with sugar, the gold standard of energy metabolism. Sugars constitute the building blocks of all carbohydrates, rich in available energy and used by every cell in the body. Plants have also loaded fruits with other vital nutrients, including vitamins, minerals and water, to keep helpful animals alive and well. In contrast to most other parts of the plant, fruit is highly nutritious, safe and easy to eat. For this reason, plant-eating animals (including humans) have come to associate sweetness with goodness and evolved an innate preference for all things sweet.

Consumption of sugars in their natural forms tends not to cause health problems because plants dispense with the minimum amount of calories necessary to keep seed-spreading animals coming back for more, but not enough to cause obesity. An 8-oz apple contains fewer calories than a 2-oz pretzel. Problems arise when sugars are refined, concentrated and added to the food supply in massive amounts. Sugar-sweetened beverages merit special mention, because sugar in liquid form seems to escape notice by the body’s calorie-detecting apparatus.

Modern science, which gave us refined sugars like high fructose corn syrup, has proposed a novel solution to the obesity epidemic: artificial sweeteners. These compounds stimulate taste receptors at hundreds to thousands of times the potency of natural sugars, producing intense sweetness at trace concentrations. (Curiously, the artificial sweetener sucralose was discovered after a young Indian chemist in London was told to test a potential insecticide; due to the language barrier, he misunderstood and proceeded to taste the newly synthesized compound, finding it overwhelmingly sweet.)

With growing attention to the adverse effects of sugar-sweetened beverages, consumption of artificial-sweetened beverages has increased dramatically. Indeed, some industry analysts predict that sales of these “diet” drinks could eventually exceed those of sugar-sweetened beverages. Clinical trials show that artificial-sweetened beverages may produce short-term weight loss when substituted for their calorie-containing counterparts, but these effects have never been tested for more than a few months. One reason for concern is that consumption of artificial-sweetened beverages produces an evolutionarily unprecedented dissociation between sweet taste and calorie intake that might confound the regulatory system designed to control hunger and body weight.

In support of this possibility, a recent study found that rodents fed the artificial sweetener saccharin lost the ability to accurately regulate calorie intake and gained weight. Another concern is that habitual consumption of artificial-sweetened beverages may “infantilize” taste preferences, especially among children. Compared to the hyper-intense sweetness of these beverages, fruit may seem bland and vegetables may seem inedible, adversely affecting overall diet quality. Indeed, two observational studies have linked artificially sweetened beverage consumption to higher risk for obesity, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Humans have always savored sweetness, and until recently, our sweet tooth caused limited harm. However, high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages throughout the last three decades has almost certainly fueled the obesity epidemic. The recent trend to substitute artificially-sweetened beverages for sugar-sweetened beverages–an attempt to have our cake and eat it too–-represents a public health experiment of unprecedented scale. Never before have synthetic compounds that potently interact with ancient biological pathways been added to the food supply in such large amounts. Until long-term trials are available, traditionally consumed beverages such as water, effervescent mineral water and coffee or tea (perhaps with just one teaspoon of sugar) may be our safest choice.

Related posts:

1. Taxing soda by the ounce?
2. The fight for kids’ food
3. Back to school: Make it a healthful start to the new school year

Even though it feels like a good portion of the country is currently buried under snow, the holiday season is still a great time to splurge a little on the outdoor cook in your family. Check out some of our suggestions and don’t forget to add your own to the list!

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Tonight, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Notre Dame Hammes Bookstore, Notre Dame Professor of Law Nicole Garnett will speak about her new book, Ordering the City: Land Use, Policing and the Restoration of Urban America (Yale University Press, 2009).

The book tackles the often-overlooked connections between urban land use and policing policies. Importantly, Professor Garnett’s book explores how the concept of urban disorder shapes urban policy. She does so by examining how cities construct and maintain order and suppress disorder through both land use and policing policies, by evaluating the effectiveness of property regulation policies and policing techniques in making urban neighborhoods safer and more vital, and by highlighting the risk that too much focus on the problem of “disorder” in cities may drain them of needed energy and vitality.

“The intersections and conflicts between the ideas of “order” and “disorder” in urban policy are as many, varied, and complex as the cities where they are played out,” says Garnett. “A humble and honest effort to understand them, however, forms the foundation of the kinds of urban policies that I believe can transform our cities into healthy, vibrant, and orderly places to make our lives.”

In her book, Garnett provides several case studies, including “the ambitious plan of the Chicago Housing Authority to demolish all of the city’s notorious high-rise public housing projects and replace them with low-rise, mixed-income private developments.” The example highlights the failure of the order construction model in post-war Chicago—which ultimately led to concentrated disorder and crime—and the move toward “a neighborhood-redevelopment strategy that aims to reorder and renew poor urban neighborhoods by saving them from the ravages of disorder-plagued public housing.”

Garnett is the author of numerous articles on property, land use, urban development, local government law, and education. She is currently working on a major empirical research project with Notre Dame Professor of Law Peg Brinig examining the effects of Catholic school closures on urban neighborhoods. Garnett also is a Fellow of the Institute for Educational Initiatives and, from 2008-2010, a Provost Fellow at Notre Dame.

For more on Professor Garnett’s book, link to Yale University Press at: http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300124941
For more on Professor Garnett, visit her faculty bio page at: http://law.nd.edu/people/faculty-and-administration/teaching-and-research-faculty/nicole-stelle-garnett.